Violin-bridge



P. TOPHAM.

VIOLIN BRIDGE.

(Model.)

Patented May 29,1883.

INVENTOR:

WITNESSB ATTORNEYS.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHINEAS TOPHAM, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

VIOLIN-BRIDGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 278,634, dated May 29, 1883. Application filed July 11, 1882. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHINEAS ToPHAM, of

Newark, in the countyof Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Violin-Bridges, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide certain new and useful improvements in bridges for violins or other musical instruments, whereby the sound produced will be sweeter and more melodious than the sounds produced on a violin or other musical instrument with a bridge of the usual construction.

The invention consists in a bridge for violins and similar instruments, constructed as hereinafter described and set forth.

Reference is to be had to the acccompan yin g drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding'parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved violin-bridge. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a modification of the same on the line a; m, Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional elevation of this modifica' tion on the line y y, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a crosssectional elevation of a modification ot the sounding device shown in Fig. 1.

v A sounding box or chamber, A, closed on all sides and ends, is formed in the violinbridge B, below the upper edge, on which the strings rest. If desired, this cavity or chamber A may be screw-threaded internally, and a circular plate or disk, G, having its edge screw-threaded, can be screwed into this cavity A, whereby the size of this cavity or chamber may be decreased or increased, as

may be desired. This disk is provided with a central aperture, which may be closed by a plug, H, which, when removed, permits some of the sound to escape out of the bridge. The shape of this box or chamber may be varied as may be desired, and the size of the same may also be varied as much as may be desired within certain limits, for the sweetness and softness of the tones produced increase with the size of the box or chamber in the bridge.

In the modifications shown in Figs. 3 and 4 a vertical aperture, (1, is bored through the bridge B at each end, and a longitudinal or horizontal aperture, b, is bored through the bridge below the 'upper edge, which horizontal aperture crosses the upper ends of the end vertical apertures. The ends of the apertures-are then plugged up or closed in any suitable manner, whereby a recess will be formed in the bridge, which recess 'is not in communication with the outer air. The recess or hollow in the bridge can also be produced in any other suitable manner. The hollows or recesses can be formed in the bridge in any other suitable manner by vertical, horizontal,

or diagonal apertures.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a violin-bridge hollowed out, in combination with a removable cover fitted to said hollow, whereby the bridge may be readily converted into an open or closed sounding-drum, as speci fied.

2. The combination, with a violin bridge having a cavity formed therein, of an adjustable plate or disk for adjusting the size of the cavity, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. Thecombination, with a violin bridge provided with an internally threaded cavity, of a screw-threaded disk for adjusting the size of this cavity, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, with a violin-bridge having a cavity formed therein, of an adjustable disk for adjusting the size of this cavity, and of a plug for closing an aperture in this disk, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

5. A violin-bridge provided with a box or sounding-drum whose walls, integral with the bridge, extend beyond one or both faces thereof for the purposes of increasing the depth of said drum, substantially as specified.

PHINEAS TOPHAM.

Witnesses:

F. A. Home, 'FREDERIOK ELY. 

